Beet-harvester



S. A. McDOWELL.

BEET HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-2|. 1911.

1,333,324. Patented Mar. 9,1920.

4 SHEETSSHEET I.

U NVENTOFI TNESSES Q P zz g JzZas A M?Dowe I ATTO R N EY S. A. McDOWELL.

BEET HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.2l| 19!?- 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR WITNESSES Silas A. M DoweZZ s. A. McDOWELL'.

BEET HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.21.1917.

INVENTOR I J'Z J' -51, McDowZZ v 0 BY ATTORN EY s. A. McDOWELL.

BEET HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-21, I911.

Patented Mar. 9, 1920;

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- INVENTOH WITNESSES ATTORNEY blades are disposed over the beet to be removed fromv the ground to clamp the beet between them. 7 V V.

Another cam 28 is positioned inside the spokes 24 and operates to force them out wardly when the beets reach the top of the machine over a trough 30 which is disposed between the wheels 18 and 19 and is designed to receive the beets carried up by the wheels and transfer them. to suitable elevating mechanism hereinafter to be described.

The trough 30 is mounted to reciprocate on rollers 31 and 32, vthe former of which is 7 carried by an upright 33 which projects 18 and 19 to be moved vertically without the chute in any way interfering with this movement. 7

This chute 30 which the beets dug out of the ground by the wheels 18 and 19 is reciprocated by means of a pitman'36 pivoted at its free end 37 thereto and at its other end connected-by a wrist shaft 40 mounted in upright 33 and carrying a sprocket wheel 41 over which a sprocket chain 42 passes.- (See Fig. 5.) This chain also extends around a sprocket. gear 43 carried by the axle 34 from which motion is imparted to said; pitman 36 through disk 39 carried by said shaft 40. This oscillating or reciprocatory motion of chute 30 is designed to shake off any dirt carried by the beets and to causethem to feed downwardly therethro-ugh on to a table 44 which is arrangedover the trough 45 arranged transversely of the machine at the front end thereof and in a plane at right angles to chute 30 as is shown clearly in Fig. 2.

r A similar trough 46 is arranged at the rearof trough 45'and' is designed to receive the tops of the beets whizh' are cut from the beets in a manner hereinafter to be described.

A link 47 is connected at one end withthe Cross bar of frame 15 and at its other end 7 with one arm of a bell crank lever 48 fulcrumedin suitable bearings depending from the cross bar 9" disposed at the rear of the side bars 9. The. other'lever arm 49 is pivotally connected with a link 50 which is connected at its free endwith a lever 51 carried by the cross bar on which the platform 8 is clearly in Fig. 3. This lever 51 carries a spring pressed dog 52 is designed to receive pin 38 carried by a disk 39 fixed to a posit. 1

. ally extending, cutting d s ed t9 r ta e with t e 1b. a 1 s res s ne 1 .ineans of which the U-shaped frame 15 may be adjusted for raising or lowering the wheels carried thereby and plows 54 which will be presently described.

These plows 54 are shown pivotally mounted on depending links 55 carried by the side bars 16 of frame 15 and by a bar 56 which is pivotally connected at its front end with the cross bar 9". as is shown clearly in Fig.3." 7 v V 7 These plows 54 are made with long land sides, one right and the other left, which are positioned to run in front'of and a little to one side of the disks and are designed to remove the dirt from the beets and to prevent the dirt from accumulating under the disks. These plows 54 are raised and lowered as above described by the raising and lowering of the U-sha'ped frame 15. The links 55 which support the plows are preferably provided with longitudinally extending slots 55 through which the connecting bolt 55" extends which is held in adjusted position by a suitable nut so that-when it'is desirable to convey the machine from onefield to another or over surface which it is not intendthey may be elej An endless conveyer 60 travels through trough 45 below the table 44, which latter terminates short of the ends of said trough, andis driven by a gear 61 which receives motion from the bevel gear 7 at the right hand of the machine through a bevel pinion 62 carried at one .end of a rod 63, the sprocket gear 61 being carried by the other end of said rod 63. Another trough 64 is hinged at one end to the right hand end of trough 45 and as is. shown clearly in Fig. 4 has an endless conveyer 65 traveling therethrough for conveying the beets from trough 45 to. a wagon or other suitable place of de- Another conveyer the trough and dumping them to one side of the machine. This conveyer;66 receives motion from the driving rod 63 which operates the belt'or conveyer 60 ofthe othertrough. A frame projects upwardly from between troughs 45 and 46 and as here shown comprises two posts. as 67 from the rear faces 66 travels through. it trough 46 for conveying the beet tops from ters 70 maybe of any suitable or desired construction,,being here. shown provided in the form of disks with a plurality of radi blades 71 which are mass-#24 in; close proximityutozthestable 44' so that tops dropped into: trough; e16 on to the con- ;veyer. 66gwhichtwillzconduct them to onezend of." the: trough fiIId'idGPGSiti'ihBm on ;-one side of; the machine the beets being dropped. into trough ifiat eitherendiof table?' 44 on to the cpnveyer 60 arranged below said table which -.will operate to conduct them'to :one. side or 113118 other: of the machineaccording to the ld-irection in which it :istdesired they should travel and which is controlled by means presently tobefdescribed.

:Acrossbar 72 connects the upper ends of the ipostsoornuprights-67.and has a post '73 extending upwardly therefrom: midway its length which is braced by astrap ironvTM which extendsiover the-upper end of post 73 ldoflwnwardly toward the posts 67 -to which it is secured atits opposite ends bybolts or other suitable "fastening elements, as is shown clearly in iJFig 4. Two :sprocket 'gears'75 and 7 6 are mounted ion the rear face'of .post 73 and a sprocket chain i 77 passes over these gears and 7 6 and around the gears69 on :the stub shafts 68 which carry the cutters 7 0 so'thatwhen this chain is actuated both of said cutterswill besimuI- .taneously -driven."-lvlotion is imparted to 'thisschain-bymeans of another chain 7 8 which passes over the sprocket wheel '79 carriedby one of the shafts 68- and around a cooperating sprocket'gear 80 carried by the rodt63'. 1 a a j From the above description itwill thus be seen that the convever 60 which: carries the beets isdrivenby the rodt3'having pinion 62 at one end thereof: which mesheswith a bevel-gear? on the hub-;of= the right hand driving or traction wheel 5 of the machine so that when the machine ismoving forward motion will be imparted -to the conyeyer 60 to cause it to travel in ened-ireetion when the pinion 62 is so geared. When it'is desired to reverse the travel of the conveyer 60 the .pinion 62 is shifted to bring it into mesh with a cooperating gear 7' carried by the axle on which wheel 5 is mounted. This shifting is accomplished by means of a clutch lever 81 which is controlled by the driver at the front of the machine as is shown clearly in Fig. 2, said lever 81 being connected with a rod 82 which extends rearwardly and is engaged at one end with one armof a bell crank 83 fulcrumed on a laterally projecting stationary supporting arm 84. This bell crank '83 engages a clutch 85 whereby the pinion 62- is caused to be engaged with either the gear 7 or the gear 7 at the will of the operator and in accordance the beets and tops may be discharged at either one side or the other of the machine.

The platform 8 carried by the-frontend of theama'chinein advanceiof theztroughsz' above described is designedjto contain the drivers seatanot shown, and; also :to provide "means on which the mentwho feed the beetsato: the .;toppers may: stand, iii; being understood that two men willibenecessary to feed :thebeets to the. two a cutting knives-here shown,v although possibly oneoperator might "do :this work.

In the operation of :thisapparatus, when the machine is :drawn over, the rows of'beets to be harvested by any suitable draft means,

not'shown, theidisks 18and :19 are turned on the axle34t by the engagementof their .pe ripheries with the ground, the plows 54 passing-in. advance thereof and removing the earth from the beets.- Thesedi'skswillthen pass on'each sideof the beet to be'dugand whenin a position direc'tlyiover the beet .un-

'der the action of cam 27 they-will close together and the continued rotation thereof will-operate to pull "the beet andlhold it be tweenthem until it arrivesat apoint over the end of chute 30, when the cam'i28- will force the clamping blade-25 of disk 19 away from the other disk and therebyrelease the beet and permit it to dropiinto thechute 30 through which it is conveyed to the table 424 at thefront of themiachine'. The beets deposited on this table are then taken by the operators who stand-on theplatform 8 and have theirtop carrying ends fed toward the cutters 7 0 projecting themiasufiicient-dis tance so that the-tops and'crowns' of the beets will'be removed and will drop on' to the con veyer66 in the trough 4,6,while-frhe beets are thrown off from oppositeendsof'the table on to the conveyer 60 which will conduct them to the side of the machine and deposit, them on the conveyor 65 which will conduct them to a'wagon or other suitable place of deposit.

Itwill be seen from-the foregoing description that the drivermay control the plows 54 to position them for plowing ornnotas may be desired and that he mav also either raise or lower the frame 15 which carries the digging disks 18 and19 so as to throw them either'into or out of operation at will. The driver or one of the beet feeders may operate the lever 81 for changing the direction in which it is desired the convevers shall travel in the manne above set forth.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, 7

the device shown is merely illustrative and thatsuch changes may be made as are within the scope of the claimed nvention.

I claim 1. In a beet harvester, a wheeled supporting structure, a substantially U-shaped beets dischar ed from said chute.

2. In a beet harvester, a wheeled supporting structure, a substantially U-shap'ed frame having its side members pivoted to said structure and its cross bar extending transversely in the front of the machine, an axle journaledin the free ends-of said side members, a pair of digging wheels carried by said axle, one of said wheels carrying laterally movable beet clamping. elements, cams for moving said elements laterally in opposite directions at predetermined intervals whereby the beets are dropped between them, a chute mounted for reciprocation between said wheels and to receive the elevated beets, an upright carried by said axle, a disk carried by said upright, means for rotating saiddisk, a pitman eccentrically connected at one end with said disk and at its other end with said chute whereby said chute is reciprocated, and means positioned to receive the beets discharged from the chute. V 3. In abeet harvester, a wheeled supporting structure, a substantially U-shaped frame having its side members pivotedto said structure and its cross bar extending transversely of the front of the machine, an

axle journaled in the free ends of said side members, a pair of digging wheels carried by said axle, one of said wheels carrying laterally movable beet clamping elements,

.cams for moving said elements laterally in said disk, a pitman eccentrically connected at one end with said disk and at its other I end with said chute whereby said chute is reciprocated, the front end of said chutei being pivoted to move vertically and means posltloned to recelve the beets v discharged from the chute.

4. In a beet harvester, a wheeled supporting structure, a substantially U-shaped frame having its side members pivoted to said structure and its cross bar extending transversely ofthe front of the machine, an axle journaled in the free ends of said side members, a pair: of diggingwheels carried by said axle, one of said wheels carrying laterally movable 'beet clamping elements, cams for moving said elements laterally in opposite directions at predetermined intervals whereby the beets aredropped between them, a chute supported at its-front end by said tilting frame and having said end pivoted at a point in advance of its support to move vertically relative to its body portion,

'means positioned to receive the beets discharged from' said chute, and means for raising and lowering said tilting frame.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEO. W. Jones, GEO. M. Moonx. 

